This weekend, the small town of Aylmer, Ontario will be experiencing another Freedom March. This will be their second anti-mask protest.
The news of this protest resulted in the Mayor of Aylmer, Mary French, calling a State of Emergency as this is a very contentious issue in Aylmer at this time with the COVID-19 pandemic.
Chief of Police for Aylmer Zvonko Horvat said that these protests have created a divide within the community since “99 percent of the people if not higher are abiding by the current emergency orders that are in place and those citizens are concerned about their well-being and certainly that is our concern as well.”
The individuals who are participating in the Freedom March are a minority within the community of Aylmer who feel that the current state of affairs- mask wearing, hand sanitizing, and how the government is governing our daily affairs- interferes with their rights and freedoms.
Horvat said that the police are prepared for anything that could occur at the protest this Saturday, but they are “not anticipating any unrest.” It is expected to be a peaceful protest.
The police have operational planning in place and the purpose is to “ensure that the peace is kept, and we want to maintain that community spirit and wellness,” said Horvat.
The issue with this protest is that it has been even more publicized then the last and it has created “negative publicity” for such a small tightknit community. The fear of another group showing up at this protest to counter protest the anti-mask protest is likely and is part of the reason for the State of Emergency being called.
When asked, Horvat said that the State of Emergency was called by the Mayor of Aylmer and that she would be the person to ask more specific questions to about the topic. However, he said that “she felt that based on potential for violence due to possibility of people counter protesting- because it is a contentious issue in our community obviously people do want to do the right thing and abide by the current emergency orders and there may be an opposition group that could result in the conflict, and for additional resources, and to protest the community, she decided to declare an emergency.”
Horvat said that this weekend, the police will be balancing both sides of the issue. They need to respect people’s right to peaceful assembly, but they also need protect people from this pandemic with the regulations that are in place.
They are not certain how many people will be attending the protest but with the publicity they believe that it could be more then the last as it has generated quite a bit of interest. And with the COVID-19 precautions, the maximum amount of people for a gathering in an outdoor space is 25 and if there are more, they could be subject to charges for violating COVID-19 regulations.
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